Article carrying case



Oct. 17, 1967 J. o. MOTSENBOCKER ETAL 3,

ARTICLE CARRYING CASE Filed Dec. 2, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l f w i INVENTORS JO MOTS EN BOCKER RW. MATTHEWS B.T. MORGAN R. A. CARLE 4 ATTORNEYS Oct 1 6 J. o. MOTSENBOCKER ETAL 3,

ARTICLE CARRYING CASE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 2, 1965 vm mm om INVENTORS J. o. MOTSENBOCKER R.W. MATTHEWS B T. MORGAN R. AVCARLE Oct. 17, 1967 J. o. MOTSENBOCKER ETAL 3,347,405

ARTICLE CARRYING CASE Filed Dec. 2, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS J. O. MOTSENBOCKER RW. MATTHEWS BT. MORGAN R.A.CARLE /4 TTO/P/VEYS O 1967 J. o. MOTSENBOCKER ETAL 3,347,405

ARTICLE CARRYING CASE Filed Dec. 2, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet '5 INVENTORS J. O. MOTSENBOCKER RW MATTHEWS .T. MORGAN RA. CARLE u 1 5"" ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,347,405 ARTICLE CARRYING CASE James 0. Motsenbocker, Robert W. Matthews, Bill T.

Morgan, and Robert A. Carle, Bartlesville, Okla., as-

signors to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 511,080 5 Claims. (Cl. 220-21) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An open top article carrying case having side walls, end walls, and a bottom wall formed integrally therewith, a flange extending inwardly and then downwardly around the top portion of the side and end walls, an indented channel in at least one end wall extending a portion of the distance from the bottom to the top thereof, the top surface of the channel having ridges to assist in gripping of the carrying case. The side walls of the container have indented portions extending from the bottom thereof to a point below the top of the side wall, the top of the indented portion extending outwardly beneath the side wall. Preferably, the reinforcing flange extends down to and joins the top of the indented portion at the side walls. Positioning lugs extending up from the bottom in an area below the end wall flanges prevent article bottoms from sliding up under the flange.

This invention relates to article carrying cases. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a one-piece, open top carrier having end walls with at least one end wall having an indented channel extending a portion of the distance from the bottom to the top thereof, the top of the indented channel extending outwardly to meet the end wall, the top of the indented channel having downwardly projecting ridges to facilitate gripping, side walls integrally attached to the end walls, a downwardly extending reinforcing flange around the top of the side and end walls. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a onepiece, open top carrier as heretofore described where the downwardly extending reinforcing flange extends a portion of the distance toward the interior of the carrier and the edge of the flange contacts the top of the indented channel. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a one-piece carrier as hereinbefore described wherein the end wall flange extends toward the interior of the carrier no farther than the indented channel. In a still further aspect, the invention relates to a one'piece open top carrier as hereinbefore described wherein a portion of the side wall is indented below the top thereof, forming a channel extending a portion of the distance from the bottom to the top of the side wall, and the top portion of the side wall extending to the outer limits of the side wall of the top thereof. In a still further aspect, the invention relates to an open top carrier as hereinbefore described wherein the side wall flange extends toward the interior of the carrier no farther than the indentations in the side wall. In a still further aspect, the invention relates to a one-piece open top carrier as hereinbefore described wherein the side wall flange meets the top portion of the side wall channel, thus reinforcing the strength of the side wall. In another aspect, the invention relates to a onepiece open top carrier as hereinbefore described wherein a bottom wall is integrally attached to the side walls and the end walls and has raised portions therein for positioning bottles placed within said carrier and also serving to position the tops of bottles in an underlying carrier when carriers are in filled, stacked position, the bottom also containing downwardly extending ridges parallel to the end walls of the container. In another aspect, the invention relates to a one-piece open top carrier hereinbefore described wherein the bottom wall contains projecting lugs which extend from the bottom wall into the interior of the carrier, the projecting lugs being positioned near the end walls under an extension of the overlying end wall flange. In a still further aspect, the invention relates to a one-piece open top carrier as hereinbefore described wherein the bottom portion of the side and end walls are so shaped as to assist in stacking up a plurality of empty carriers.

Article carriers such as bottle carriers are generally made of wood or metal. These carrying cases are strong but heavy and expensive. It has been proposed to make these carrying cases out of plastic material which is lighter but does not have suflicient strength for a carrying case designed like those made out of wood or metal. Further, in using a light plastic, such as polyethylene, which has self-lubricating properties, difliculties have been encountered in adapting these cases to a mechanized operation. For example, it has been found that these light thermoplastic cases slip when being carried up an incline on a conveyor belt.

In Ser. No. 401,861, filled Oct. 6, 1964 now U.S. 3,308,- 983, there is described and claimed a one-piece open top carrier having end walls, side wall and a bottom wall integrally formed therewith. The end Walls have an indented channel portion with an area cut out near the top thereof for hand holes. We have now discovered that the gripping of the carrier can be facilitated by providing downwardly extending ridges on the top portion of the channel.

In carriers similar to the one described and claimed in Ser. No. 401,861, there is an open area under the flange near the end walls. This open area provides a space in which bottoms of bottles can enter, thus causing the bottles to be out of alignment with the rest of the bottles. This nonalignment of some end bottles can cause stacking problems when filled cases are stacked one on top of another. We have now discovered that the problem can be avoided by providing upwardly extending portions of the bottom wall in that area under the flange.

In carriers similar to those described in the aforemen tioned copendin-g application, the beveled portions of the bottom of the end and side walls assist in stacking of empty containers. However, when the bevel is such that there is a certain amount of nesting taking place, that is, the bottom portion of the carrier fits too far down into the top portion of the next container, wedging of empty containers can occur. We have now found that the sticking of stacked empty containers can be eliminated by further indenting the bottom portions of the side and end walls, thus aiding in positioning the bottoms of the bottles around the edge of the container, and providing a series of stacking elements which taper downwardly and inwardly from the side and end walls to the bottom wall.

By various aspects of this invention, one or more of the following, or other, objects can be obtained.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a one-piece container with improved nesting and stacking features.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a one-piece container with improved bottle positioning means.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a one-piece container which can be gripped more easily.

Other aspects, objects, and the several advantages of this invention are apparent from the study of this disclosure, the drawing and the appended claims.

According to the invention, there is provided a onepiece carrier having an open top, side walls, end walls,

and a bottom wall, all integrally formed. The top of the carrier has an upper edge stiffening flange extending around the side and end walls. The edge stiffening flange is so shaped as to strengthen the top portion of the carrier and assist in stacking and nesting as hereinafter described. The end walls of the carrier have indented channel portions extending from the bottom a portion of the way to the top. The top of the channel is provided with ridges to facilitate gripping of the carrier. The side walls and the end walls are provided at the bottom thereof with means to prevent the bottles from sliding under the flange portion. The bottom of the carrier is provided with a means to position the tops of bottles in an underlying carrier when the carriers are in filled, stacked relationship, and a means to assist in movement of the carrier on conveyor belts.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which FIGURE 1 shows a partial plan or top view, partially cut away, of a carrying case according to the invention; FIGURE 2 is a partial cross section through line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 3 shows a partial bottom view of the carrying case; FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the carrying case shown in FIGURE 1 showing an end view of the carrier; and FIGURE 5 is a sectional view through line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG- URES 6 through in which FIGURE 6 is a partial plan or top view of the modified carrying case; FIGURE 7 is a partial cross section through line 77 of FIGURE 6; FIGURE 8 is a partial side elevation showing the end of the modified carrier with a partial section through line 8-8 of FIGURE 6; and FIGURE 9 is a section through line 99 of FIGURE 6 showing the raised ridges on the the bottom of the modified carrier; FIGURE 10 is a partial cross section through line 1010 of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings, and FIGURES 1 through 5 in particular, there is provided a one-piece carrying case 1 having side walls 2 and end walls 3. A reinforcing flange 4 extends around the top portion of the carrier. In the end wall area, the flange 4 comprises a head 5, horizontal portion 6, and downwardly extending portion 7. The side wall reinforcing flange has a horizontal portion 8 which extends nearly to the edge of the flange, bead 9, and downwardly extending portion 10. The end walls have an indented channel portion 12 having inwardly sloping side walls '18 and top wall 14 with downwardly extending ridges 16. As can be seen from FIGURE 2, the inner portion of the channel 12 at top portion 14 is co-extensive with downwardly extending flange portion 7. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the downwardly extending flange 7 will contact and be fused integrally with the junction of wall 14 and wall 12. This junction provides a strengthening rim around the .end wall of the container and the combination of the flange and the ridged wall 14 provide a gripping means for the container. Near the bottom portion of the end wall 3, the wall extends inwardly at 20, downwardly at 22, and rounds off at 24. This shape of inwardly, downwardly and rounding off extends around on to side Walls 2 as can be seen in FIGURE 4. The rounded portion 24 rests on horizontal portion 6 of the flange 4 when empty carriers are in stacked relationship. When in stacked relationship, bead 5 cams the rounded portion into position. It can be seen from inspection of FIGURE 2 that the carriers will not nest down into the top portion of the carrier to such an extent that two empty carriers become wedged together. However, bead portion 5 allows a slight amount of nesting so that the stack of empty containers will be at least partially stable.

Side walls 2 are indented similarly to the end walls 3 to form panel 26 having a top portion 28 which extends horizontally outwardly to meet the outer portion of side wall 2. The indented panel 26 serves to position the bottles along the outer portion of the carrier, thus preventing the bottles from til-ting with the bottom portion of the bottle under the flange area. Further, the structure of the indented side wall aids in the strengthening of the flange. This strengthening can be seen in FIGURE 4 where it is shown that the downwardly extending portion 10 meets outwardly extending top wall 28 in a similar fashion as downwardly extending portion 7 and wall 14 of the end wall 3. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, flange portion 10 and end wall portion 28 will be fused together to form a hollow rigidifying structural member.

The bottom portion of the carrier contains an indented area 36, indented into the container, and downwardly extending area 34 having ridges 32 parallel to the end Walls. The downwardly extending portions 34 serve to guide the tops of bottles positioned in similar carriers when filled carriers are stacked. Ridges 32 provide an increased resistance of the carrier to sliding on conveyor belts, thus facilitating the movement of the carrier for mass production operations. The bottom is also provided with drain holes 40 which, as can be seen from FIGURE 2, are positioned in the lower most areas of the bottom. The drain holes allow entrapped water to drain from the carrier. The bottom is also provided with positioning lugs 38 which extend up into the bottom of the carrier under the flange 6. As can be seen from FIGURE 1, the positioning lugs are co-extensive with the plane of indented channel Wall 12. The positioning lugs serve to prevent the bottles positioned in that area from tilting due to sliding of the bottoms underneath the channel portion 6. If the bottles are tilted, the tilting could result in sliding of above carriers in stacked position.

Referring to the modified form of the invention in FIGURES 6 through 10 wherein generally the same numerals as used in FIGURES 1 through 5 are used except that the subscript a is used for corresponding parts between the preferred form and the modified form of the invention. Referring now to FIGURES 6 through 10, there is provided an open top carrying case having reinforcing flange 4a around the top portion thereof. The reinforcing flange 4a has a bead 5a, horizontal portion 6a, and downwardly extending portion 7a, the extended portion meeting the top portion 14a of the top of a channel member 12a in the end wall. In this embodiment of the invention, a portion of channel wall 12a is cut out at 13a to facilitate gripping. As can be seen from the drawings, the reinforcing rim 4a is thinner or extends not as far into the center of the carrier as does the reinforcing rim 4 of the carrier showing in FIGURES 1 through 5. There is also provided a series of ridges 16a on the bottom portion of wall 14a of the indented channel 12a. These ridges aid in gripping of a filled container. In the side wall area, reinforcing flange 4a extends a very short distance into the container and then vertically down to form flange 10a.

The bottom portion of side walls 2a and end walls 3a contains an inwardly extending portion 20a and downwardly extending portion 22, and rounded corner 24a. As can be seen from FIGURES 6 through 10, downwardly extending portion 22a extends into the container at least as far as does the reinforcing flange 4a. This extension positions the bottom of bottles placed within the carrier so that they will not be tilted underneath the flange portion. Stacking lugs 42a at the bottom portion of wall 2a extend downwardly and inwardly from the side wall toward the bottom wall, terminating a short distance above the bottom wall. These stacking lugs contact the top portion of reinforcing flange portion 10a to provide a snugly nested stack of empty containers. In a similar manner, lugs 44a serve to position the empty container in stacked position with other similar containers. In this instance, the bottom portion of 44a will rest on horizontal portion 6a and be cammed into place by downwardly sloping ridge of head 5a.

The bottom portion of the carrier is provided with an indented bottom 36a having downwardly indented areas 34a containing ridges 32a which are parallel to end wall 3a. Drain holes 40a are also provided to allow accumulated water to drain from the container. Downwardly indented portions 34a aid in positioning the tops of bottles in underlying carriers when they are stacked in filled condition. Also, projections 32a aid in providing increased resistance to sliding of carriers when on conveyor belts and the like.

The carrying cases can be made from moldable polymers, such as synthetic thermoplastic material including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and the like. The preferred material is high density polyethylene, such as that produced by a method disclosed and claimed in Patent 2,825,721, issued Mar. 4, 1958 to Messrs. Hogan and Banks.

The carriers of the invention can be made by a number of processes, including diflerential pressure molding. The preferred method of making the carrier is to blow mold a hollow object in the general shape desired, and then cut out the necessary portions, such as the top, the channel portions and the drain holes.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope of the foregoing disclosure, the drawing, the claims to the invention, the essence of which is that there is provided an open top carrier having a reinforcing flange therearound, having side walls and end walls, and a bottom wall formed integrally therewith, at least one end Wall having an indented channel etxending a portion of the distance from the bottom to the top thereof, the top portion thereof having ridges to assist in gripping, means around the bottom portion of the side and end walls to aid in positioning the bottles, and means around the bottom coacting with the reinforcing flange to aid in stacking of empty containers.

We claim:

1. A one-piece, open top carrier having (a) end walls, at least one of said end Walls having an indented channel extending a portion of the distance of the bottom to the top thereof, the top of the indented channel extending outwardly to meet said end wall, said top of said indented channel having downwardly projecting ridges to assist in gripping, (b) side walls integrally formed with said end walls,

each side wall having an indented portion extendin from the bottom to a point below the top of sai side wall, the top of said indented portion extendin outwardly to meet said side wall,

(c) a reinforcing flange around the top of the side an end walls extending inwardly and downwardly, 2 said side walls said flange extending down to an being integrally fused with said top of said indente side wall portion to form a hollow rigidifying struc tural member, and

(d) a bottom wall integrally formed with said end wall and said side walls.

2. A one-piece, open top carrier according to claim 1 wherein said end Wall flange extends toward the interim of the carrier no farther than said indented channel it said end wall.

3. A one-piece, open top carrier according to claim 1 wherein said side Wall flange extends toward the interior no farther than the indentation of the side wall.

4. A one-piece, open top carrier according to claim 1 wherein said bottom wall contains raised portions for positioning the tops of bottles in a filled carrier stacked below said carrier, and downwardly extending ridges, parallel to said end walls.

5. A one-piece, open top carrier according to claim 1 wherein there is provided positioning lugs extending up from said bottom in an area below said end wall flanges to prevent bottle bottoms from sliding under the flange.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 278,271 5/1883 Rice 220--74 2,75 8,742 8/ 1956 Farrell. 3,148,797 9/1964 Cloyd 22021 3,155,268 11/1964 Fogerty 220--21 3,265,237 9/1966 Pache 220/21 FOREIGN PATENTS 340,877 1/ 1931 Great Britain.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Examiner. 

1. A ONE-PIECE, OPEN TOP CARRIER HAVING (A) END WALLS, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID END WALLS HAVING AN INDENTED CHANNEL EXTENDING A PORTION OF THE DISTANCE OF THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP THEREOF, THE TOP OF THE INDENTED CHANNEL EXTENDING OUTWARDLY TO MEET SAID END WALL, SAID TOP OF SAID INDENTED CHANNEL HAVING DOWNWARDLY PROJECTING RIDGES TO ASSIST IN GRIPPING, (B) SIDE WALLS INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH SAID END WALLS, EACH SIDE WALL HAVING AN INDENTED PORTION EXTENDING FROM THE BOTTOM TO A POINT BELOW THE TOP OF SAID SIDE WALL, THE TOP OF SAID INDENTED PORTION EXTENDING OUTWARDLY TO MEET SAID SIDE WALL, (C) A REINFORCING FLANGE AROUND THE TOP OF THE SIDE AND END WALLS EXTENDING INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY, AT SAID SIDE WALLS SAID FLANGE EXTENDING DOWN TO AND BEING INTEGRALLY FUSED WITH SAID TOP OF SAID INDENTED SIDE WALL PORTION TO FORM A HOLLOW RIGIDIFYING STRUCTURAL MEMBER, AND (D) A BOTTOM WALL INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH SAID END WALLS AND SAID SIDE WALLS. 